In the Netherlands, the Dutch Healthcare Inspectorate is the body appointed by the government to supervise and regulate quality of healthcare. It is an independent part of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports. The Inspectorate pays regular visits, which become more frequent if care providers do not comply with quality standards. Both care providers and the public can report incidents or lodge complaints. However, the Inspectorate’s statutory tasks mean that it cannot handle complaints by individual patients unless the complaints are structural or very severe

Information about the quality of care is collected and analysed to signal potential risks. Information sources include the following:

- System based supervision (monitoring of internal quality systems and governance arrangements)

- Performance indicators

- Reporting of incidents (by the public or care providers)

- Detection of prosecutable facts

- Thematic supervision

The Inspectorate is authorised to use the following regulation and enforcement instruments: